The LGBTQI community closed out 2015 once again front and center at the United Nations ( UN ) on Dec. 10 ( International Human Rights Day ) when a group of advocates from across the world—including Chicago House CEO Stan Sloan, Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) Midwest Director Jackie Kaplan-Perkins, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program Director Graeme Reid, alongside celebrated Chicago activist Clark Pellet—travelled to New York to enlighten members about the economic cost of LGBT exclusion.
"One of the goals of the Human Rights Watch is to educate our supporters on the issue and connect them to people who are doing the work on the ground as well as other advocates who we work with," Kaplan-Perkins told Windy City Times. "Once a year, on Dec. 10, Graeme brings together supporters particularly interested in LGBTQ issues."
To prepare people for their visit to the UN, the HRW began with an overview of its projects and impact, meetings with the organizations researchers based in countries across the globe and a briefing focusing upon the global perspective of LGBT funding and philanthropy.
According to Kaplan-Perkins, the HRW was part of a coalition of organizations and people that included President of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft, lead researcher Dr. Lee Badgett and representatives from Microsoft.
"It really was a deeper education," Kaplan-Perkins said, "addressing not only what it means for LGBT people to be excluded from a financial perspective but also the funds that are going into LGBT programming. What makes an organization like the Human Rights Watch unique is that it's about raising awareness. It's especially important, now that we've passed marriage here in the United States, to understand what is happening in our community beyond that, to have an important conversation about what's going on globally and to talk about it through an economic lens because there is a cost to LGBTQ human rights abuses."
In a written statement to Windy City Times, Pellet described his participation in the HRW's initiative to eliminate discrimination and persecution of LGBTQI persons around the world as "an honor."
"Being part of Human Rights Day at the UN was an amazing experience, especially when the President of the General Assembly addressed the LGBT Core Group of nations in the hall while we got to sit in as honored guests," Pellet said.
For Sloan, the day was as eye-opening as it was fascinating.
"In the ideal world, countries evolve on LGBTQ issues because they have grown morally and ethically enough to want to be in solidarity with our communities," he said. "But the reality is that countries like India are literally losing in excess of $60 billion dollars [equivalent] a year through a lack of LGBTQ inclusion in their workforce and supporting industries."
"Sometimes appealing to people from an economic standpoint is as important as appealing to them from a vantage point of human solidarity," he added. "Hearing the president of the United Nation's General Assembly stress the importance of LGBT inclusion [for the first time in history] was inspirational and hopeful, and I am very grateful to Human Rights Watch for inviting me to participate."
In his opening address, Lykketoft noted that "In 76 countries, for example, LGBT people—and especially gay men—live with the very real fear of being arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned simply for loving someone of the same sex."
"I encourage all of us to go beyond our comfort zones," he concluded, "to reach out to those with different perspectives and views; and to engage with them in a respectful conversation on the benefits and legal obligations involved in bringing about full LGBT inclusion."
For more information about the Human Rights Watch, visit: www.hrw.org .
